National Blog

Massie to Hit Ground Running on NSA Reform in 114th Congress

Following the removal of the Massie-Lofgren amendment during the backroom wheeling and dealing over the "CRomnibus" package, the representatives joined together with Rep. Sensenbrenner to introduce H.R. 5800, the "Secure Data Act of 2014."

The bill forbids Federal agencies from forcing tech manufacturers from having to place vulnerabilities in their hardware that could later be exploited by the government.

Massie told Technocrat on Friday that the bill’s introduction at the tail end of the Congress was “just putting our marker in the ground to say hey, we’re not gonna let this issue go away, and we’ll have to reintroduce it again, probably in January or fairly soon.”

“And I think it’s like eating an elephant one bite at a time,” Massie said. “It’s a small reform, but it’s something that could possibly pass as a stand-alone. It might not have to be an amendment to an appropriation bill or attached to a Patriot Act reauthorization.”

Campaign for Liberty is eager to push real reform of the NSA and domestic surveillance in the new Congress and is seeking full repeal of expiring provisions of the so-called "Patriot" Act in 2015.